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Free to Choose but Liable for the Consequences: Should Non-Vaccinators Be Penalized for the Harm They Do?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Arthur L. Caplan ,
David Hoke ,
Nicholas J. Diamond  and
Viktoriya Karshenboyem
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Extract

Consider this hypothetical scenario involving a choice not to vaccinate a child. Ms. S has a niece who is autistic. The girl's parents are suspicious that there is some relationship between her autism and her Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination. They have shared their concerns with Ms. S. She then declines to have her own daughter, Jinny S., vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. To bypass the state's mandatory vaccination requirement, Ms. S claims a state-legislated philosophical exemption, whereby she simply attests to the fact that she is opposed to vaccinating her daughter due to a conscientiously held belief. At the age of four, Jinny goes on a trip by airplane to Germany with her mother. After returning to the United States, she attends daycare despite having some mild cold symptoms. Subsequently, she develops a classic measles rash, at which point her mother brings her to a pediatrician and keeps her home from daycare.

Type
Independent
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , Fall 2012 , pp. 606 - 611
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2012

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